“I don’t want to start First Grade. I don’t want to learn to read!” And oh, how I meant it. I don’t think my teacher knew what to do with me. Fast forward to middle school, when you could barely keep my nose out of a book. I was student of the month in my seventh grade reading class, and my parents warned my teacher I was dreaming of becoming an author.

The earliest draft of Knightess, once called Eleanor, began a year later. I quickly learned that when the books I read could not fill the void for what I wanted to read, I could create them myself. Too predictable? Add doubt. Don’t like a character? Kill him off. Oh, wait, let’s change that to make him the good guy. The changes Knightess has gone through over the past twenty years make the twists contained in the final storyline seem tame. I thought it was “done” in 2010 when I graduated college with a degree in English, but I was wrong.

After twelve years of following my primary passion for training horses, writing on snow days and after lay-ups and finally during a pandemic quarantine, Knightess emerged as a draft I had enough faith in to let the public read. I remember typing the last words at midnight, listening to old Johnny Cash era country music on the radio. The notes echoed through the room as my keyboard went quiet, my hands shaking. I breathed a sigh, admittedly a little teary-eyed. This version, this is what I could share. Eleanor was “finished”.

I began the editing process but couldn’t stop writing, the words bleeding from my fingertips at night when the horses were tucked in. Within a year, two more novels emerged, and a list of future projects sits waiting. Time will tell which warring passion holds, but one thing is clear.

I have more stories to tell.

PRESS:

Lee, Hyun Soo. “Local author finds success with debut novel.” Republican Herald 15 October 2022: A2.

Lee, Hyun Soo. “Author hosting writing workshop.” Republican Herald 18 January 2023: A3.

Eilola, Josh. “UF Alumna Publishes Debut Novel ‘Knightess’.” Online. 23 January 2023.

Lee, Hyun Soo. “Orwigsburg library to host 3 area writers.” Republican Herald 13 November 2023: A3.

Owen, Kasey. (2024, September) Local Reads Author Interview: J.A. Stein, The Last Farm [Radio Broadcast]. T102. https://www.t102radio.com/localreads/

Lee, Hyun Soo. “Horse Trainer by Day, Novelist by Nightfall.” Republican Herald 6 October 2024: D2.

“Meet J.A. Stein.” Bold Journey 11 November 2025. https://boldjourney.com/meet-j-a-stein/